Suspension fitting for sliding doors



July 29, 1969 F. ZIEGLER 3,457,676

SUSPENSION FITTING FOR SLIDING DOORS Filed Sept. 28, 1967 5a 3 v: 4 629vfi K n L Ac" I INVENTOR.

f/ EZTTLZ 24 69 6 6% [1/443 United States Patent 3,457,676 SUSPENSIONFITTING FOR SLIDING DOORS Franz Ziegler, Frohbergstrasse 7, Winterthur,Switzerland Filed Sept. 28, 1967, Ser. No. 671,401 Claims priority,application Switzerland, Sept. 29, 1966, 14,067/ 66 Int. Cl. E0511 13/02US. Cl. 49-409 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A suspension fittingfor sliding doors having a runner rail in which a lower portion has aprismatic member secured in the door by means of a screw threaded in theprismatic member.

The invention relates to a suspension fitting for sliding doors, inparticular sliding doors on furniture, having an upper part guided in arunner rail and a lower part adapted to be connected to the door at thelateral face thereof. Such fittings are suitable only for relativelythick door panels (having a thickness of at least mm.).

In the case of sliding doors of lesser thickness, use is therefore stillmade of the old groove guide whereby the grooves must be adapted to thethickness of the door leaf. The considerable disadvantages of thisdesign are known; the door leaf becomes jammed, because it readilywarps; the groove-base face is rapidly worn and must therefore bespecially protected.

Quite especially disadvantageous is the considerable danger of soilingof the grooves.

The invention is based on the problem of how to provide a suspensionfitting for relatively thin sliding doors, which said fitting is freefrom the above-mentioned disadvantages. Proceeding from a fitting of thetype mentioned at the outset, this problem is according to the inventionsolved by the arrangement whereby there is provided at the lower part aprismatic member which is adapted to be inserted in a passage aperturein the door and is formed with a tapped bore into which engages a screwpressing the door against the lower part.

Since the lower part is not let into the door but only the prismaticmember engages in a passage bore in the door, the suspension fittingaccording to the invention may be used for doors having slight and alsovarying thickness, for example a thickness of 5 mm. to 8 mm. Reliablesecuring is guaranteed by the positive connection between the prismaticmember and by the screw pressing the door against the lower part.

The lower part may be designed as a strip-shaped web and extends beyondthe prismatic member. In this way, a good abutment face for the door isprovided. In order to prevent tilting of the holder against the door, inthe case of one embodiment having a lower portion arranged offsetrelatively to the suspension central plane determined by the upperportion, the upper portion may merge into the lower portion via anoblique face on the side facing the door. This oblique face then engagesin a corresponding recess in the upper edge of the door.

The fitting according to the invention, wherein preferably the prismaticmember is designed to be cylindrical at the lower portion, may be madein one piece. The manufacturing costs are then especially low, above allif it is manufactured from a plastic material, for example from apolyamide. A plastics material of this kind also provides satisfactorysliding properties for the head of the suspension fitting and ensures alow degree of wear.

In the following text, the invention is discussed in detail withreference to an example of embodiment illustrated in the drawings,wherein:

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FIGURE 1 shows a front elevation of the embodiment as seen in thedirection towards the lateral face of the door and a longitudinalsection through the slide rail carrying the suspension fitting.

FIGURE 2 shows an end face elevation, partly in section, of the exampleof embodiment and a cross-section through the slide rail.

A sliding door 1, which in the example of embodiment is made from woodbut may also be made from veneered pressboard, plastics or the like, issuspended from a hollow profile slide rail 3 by means of a suspensionfitting designated, as a whole, by reference numeral 2; in the case ofthe example of embodiment, what is concerned is a double rail for twoparallel-travelling doors. The rail 3 is let in, thus achieving a lowfitting height of the fitting. This is advantageous due to the fact thatin this way the necessary thickness of the front frame or body isdiminished and the upper edge of the sliding door 1 may be brought upalmost to the lower edge of the front frame, so that covering meanswhich are otherwise conventionally used may be dispensed with.

The fitting 2 is designed in one piece and made from polyamide.Connected to the top portion 5 thereof, offset out of the suspensioncentral plane determined by the latter, is a plate-shaped lower portion4 having at its free end a hollow-cylindrical member 6 the longitudinalaxis of which extends perpendicularly to the plane formed by the lowerportion 4 and the suspension central plane (this is shown in dot-dashlines in FIGURE 2 and is designated M). The lower portion 4 bearsagainst the rear-side lateral face of the door 1 and the cylindricalmember 6 engages in a passage bore 7 in the door 1. Due to thisengagement of the cylindrical body 6 in the bore 7, the door 1 ispositively connected with the suspension fitting 2.

The bore in the hollow-cylindrical body 6 is designed as a tapped bore 9in which a screw 8 engages. The head of the said screw has a relativelylarge-surface shoulder 10 hearing against the clear surface of thedoor 1. Thus, the door 1 may be pressed against the lower portion 4 bymeans of the screw 8. In order to provide a good abutment surface, thelower portion 4 extends, by means of a portion 4a, beyond thehollow-cylindrical body 6.

In order to avoid any tilting of the suspension fitting 2 on the door 1and to achieve additional rigidity, the upper portion 5 merges, on theside facing the door, via an oblique face 12, into the lower portion 4(as shown in FIGURE 2). The oblique portion formed by the oblique faceengages in a corresponding recess in the upper edge of the door 1.

The fitting 2 suspended by means of its upper portion 5 from the sliderail 3 bears through the agency of two oppositely-positioned shouldersSo on the slide faces of the rail 3 formed by flanges 3a. That shoulder5a which is disposed on the same side as the lower portion 4 formstogether with the upper end face 40 of the lower portion 4 a groove 11in which one of the flanges 3a of the rail 3 engages with a small degreeof play. This restricts the tilting of the suspended fitting 2 in thedisplacement direction, so that neither the upper portion nor thesuspended door is able to rub with its upper edge against the rail.Furthermore, this step makes it possible to cause the sliding door toend close below the slide rail.

For the assembly of the sliding door in the appropriate aperture in anarticle of furniture or an interior structure, first of all thesuspension fittings provided for each door leaf (as a rule two per doorleaf) are suspended from the slide rail which is still loose and thenthe rail is inserted and fixed in the guide groove of the article offurniture. Then, the door may be placed in position in the aperture andthe holders pressed into the recesses in the door and screwed fast.

Underneath, the door is invisibly guided by means of holders having ahead which is U-shaped in profile and which are screwed into thestructural part disposed below the door. One limb of the head engages ina longitudinal groove in the underside of the door whereas the otherlimb bears against the rear side of the door. In the case of doors ofslight thickness, one groove wall is formed by a strip applied on therear side of the door.

I claim:

1. A suspension fitting, especially for a thin walled, sliding door,particularly for furniture, comprising a runner rail, an upper trailingportion for sliding in the runner rail and a lower portion to beconnected to the door at a lateral face thereof, said lower portionbeing staggered with respect to the hanging axis of the trailingportion, a cylindrical stud on the side face of the lower portion facingthe hanging axis of the trailing portion and the height of which issomewhat less than the door thickness projects into a bore of equaldiameter in the door, said stud and said lower portion having aconcentric threaded bore extending therethrough, and a low-head screwhaving a head diameter greater than an outer stud diameter and beingscrewed from the opposite part of the door into the stud thread so as tourge the door against the lower portion of the suspension fitting.

2. A suspension fitting according to claim 1, in which the upper side ofthe screw head is smooth, and a slot for a screw driver is provided inthe front face of a screw shaft.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,741,794 4/1956 Pearson 16-933,203,027 8/1965 Ohman 16-96 X 3,286,299 11/1966 Golden 1687.4

FOREIGN PATENTS 245,971 3/1966 Austria. 478,108 6/ 1929 Germany.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner J. K. BELL, Assistant ExaminerUS. Cl. X.R.

